Lamp socket



June 30, 1964 R. B. MEYER ETAL 3,139,316

LAMP socxm' Filed 1180,20, 1982 INVENTORS Raba/'2' 5. Meyer Samue/A. FhaVey BY I m2 W wf ATTOR EYs United States Patent O i 3,139,316 LAMP SOCKET Robert B. Meyer and Samuel A. Findley, Bronson, Mieli., assignors to Kingston Products Corporation, Kokomo, Ind., a corporation of Indiana Filed Dec. 20, 1962, Ser. No. 246,'154 3 Claims. (Cl. 339-188) This invention relates to improvements in lamp sockets and more particularly relates to a simplified form of lamp socket particularly adapted for use in automotive Vehicles. v

A principal object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved form of lamp socket arranged with a view toward utmost simplicity and efificiency in construction.

A further object of the invention is to provide a simplivfied form of lamp socket particularly adapted for use in automotive Vehicles in which the terminal on the outside of the socket and the contact within the socket are of a one piece construction.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved form of lamp socket in which a socket body of a generally cylindrical form carries an insulating core adjacent one end thereof, and has bayonet joint-like slots opening to the other end thereof, and in which the insulating core for-ms a mounting for sldable spaced terminals extending through said insulating core and forming spade terminals at one end and contacts at the opposite end, and also forms a spring seating means for Springs yieldably extending the contacts within the core.

These and other objects of the invention will appear from time to time as the following specification proceeds and with reference to the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a view in side elevation of a lamp socket constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention, with part of the socket body broken away and shown in section;

FIGURE 2 is an end view of the socket assembly looking at the spade terminal end of the socket assembly;

FIGURE 3 is an end view of the socket assembly looking at the opposite end of the socket assembly from the end shown in FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of the socket assembly taken substantially along line IV--IV of FIG- URE 3; and

FIGURE 5 is a longitudinal sectional view taken through the insulator core along the same general lines as sectional lines IV-IV.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawings, we have shown in FIGURE 1 a socket assembly including a generally cylindrical socket body 11 having an insulator core 12 mounted therein and extending therealong for a portion of the length thereof, and having a base portion 13 extending outwardly of the socket body, having terminals 15 extending outwardly therefrom and shown as being spade terminals.

The socket body also has conventional bayonet jointlike slots 16 and 17 opening to the opposite end of said socket body from the base 13, for retaining a lamp bulb 18 to the socket body in engagement with contacts 19, 19, shown in FIGURE 4 as being formed integrally with the spade terminals 15, 15, and as extending at right angles to the body thereof.

The socket body has an inturnedradially extending flange 21 engaging a shouldered portion 22 of the insulator core 12. The flange 21 has a flattened surface 23 engageable with a flattened surface 24 formed on the base 13, to index the insulator core and to retain the insulator core from turning movement with respect to said base. The insulator core is retained to the socket 3,l39,316 Patented June 30, 1964 ICC body as by peening the wall of the socket body vinwardly into engagement with the insulator core, as indicated by reference characters 25, in FIG; 1.

Referring now in particular to the integral spade terminal and contact assembly of the invention, the insulator core 12 has a pair of chordally extending slots 26 extending therethrough, each of which forms a slidablet guide for a spade terminal 15. The insulator core also has a spring Chamber 27 in association with each slot 26 and opening to the inner or lamp socket end of the insulator core and extending inwardly along the insulator core for a portion of the length thereof, as shown in FIGURES 3, 4 and 5 Each Chamber 27 terminates into an inner wall 29 forming a seat for a spring 30.

The spade terminal 15 is made from a material, which is a good electrical conductor such as brass or a like material, and has a body portion 31 slidable within the slot 26 and having a limiting shoulder 32 thereon, engageable with a shouldered portion 33 of the slot 26, and limiting inward movement of the spade terminal With respect to said slot. The body portion 31 slidably engages one wall of the slot and has a bearng nib 35 projecting laterally therefrom and slidably engaging the opposite wall of the slot 26. The bearng nib 35 is on the end of an arm 36 extending laterally from the body portion 31. The arm 36 has a leg 37 extending inwardly therefrom along and parallel to the body portion 31 and having the spring 30 mounted thereon.

The leg 37 has an outwardly extending end portion 39 engaging the same end of the wall of the slot 26 as the nib 35, to prevent tilting of the spade terminal within the slot.

The spring 30, seated at one end on the shoulder 29, and at its opposite end on the arm 36, biases the spade terminals and contacts 19 into inwardly extending relation with respect to the insulator core into the lamp socket end of the socket body and accommodates the contacts 19 to yield as a lamp is inserted within the socket body along the bayonet joint-like slots 16 and 17, and is locked in position thereby.

It may be seen from the foregoing that an extremely simple and efiicient socket assembly has been provided, constructed from a minimum number of parts and that the simplicity of the socket assembly is attained by the integral spade terminals and contacts slidably mounted within the insulator core, and by the seating of the biasing Springs for the contacts within the insulator core.

While we have herein shown and descrihed one form in which our invention may be embodied it may readily be understood that various variations and modifications in the invention may be attained without departing from the spirit and scope of the novel concepts thereof as defined by the clains appended hereto.

We claim as our invention:

l. In a socket assembly, a socket body, an insulator core within said socket body, said insulator core having at least one rectangular slot extending axially therealong and opening to each end thereof said rectangular slot having parallel side walls and parallel end walls connecting said side walls together and one end wall being stepped outwardly with respect to the other to form a shoulder, a spring socket intersecting said slot and extending along one of said end walls, a one piece spade terminal, having a contact end portion, slidably mounted in said slot and having a spade terminal portion extending outwardly of said core and socket body and having a portion of a width suificient to fit within the narrower portion of said slot and having a stepped shoulder engageable with said shoulder of said slot and limiting in- Ward movement of said terminal along said slot, said con-y tact end portion having slidable engagement with opposite end walls of the narrower portion of said slot and also having a leg extending therefrom within said spring socket and slidably engageable with said slot at its free end and having a spring mounted thereon and engaging said contact end portion and extending within said socket and seated on the inner end of said socket.

2. In a socket assembly, a socket body, an insulator core within said socket body, said insulator core having at least one slot extending axially therealong and opening to each end of said core and having parallel spaced side and end walls and a spring socket intersecting said slot and extending along one of said end walls, a one piece spade terminal and contact slidably mounted in said slot and having an intermediate body portion, a terminal portion extending from one end of said body portion along said slot to the outside of said core and socket body and a contact portion extending from the opposite end of said body portion inwardly of said socket body, said body portion having a leg extending from said contact portion in generally parallel spaced relation with respect to said body portion along said spring socket and having a laterally turned free end portion having guiding engagement with said end wall of said slot, and a spring extending along said leg between said contact portion and said laterally turned end portion and seated on the inner wall of said socket at one end and on said contact portion at its opposite end and biasing said contact portion to extend Within said socket body.

3. In a socket assembly, a socket body, a one piece insulator core within said socket body, said insulator core having at least one slot extending therealong having parallel side and end Walls, one of said end Walls being stepped to form communicating narrow and Widened slot portions and the other of said end walls having a spring socket extending therealong for a portion of the length thereof and terminating at its inner end in a spring seat, a one piece termial and contact slidably movable along said slot and including a body of a stepped width, no wider at any portion of the width of said body than the width of the narrow portion of said slot, and having a terminal portion extending from one end tllereofl and a contact portion extendi'ng from the opposite end thereof, said contact portion having a nib' extending laterally therefrom having guiding engagement vwith the outer wall of said socket and having a leg extending inwardly along said socket from said nib in parallel spaced'relation with respect to said body portion, said leg having a spring extending therealong seated on the inner wall of said socket and having a laterally turned end portion slidably engaging the end wall of said slot opposite from said stepped wall, and guiding said contact and terminal for rectilinear movement along said slot and retaining said contact and terminal from tilting movement with respect to said slot.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 643,400 Comstock Feb. 13, 1900 2,959,761 Weber et al. Nov. 8, 1960 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,119,4()9 Germany Dec. 14, 1961 

1. IN A SOCKET ASSEMBLY, A SOCKET BODY, AN INSULATOR CORE WITHIN SAID SOCKET BODY, SAID INSULATOR CORE HAVING AT LEST ONE RECTANGULAR SLOT EXTENDING AXIALLY THEREALONG AND OPENING TO EACH END THEREOF SAID RECTANGULAR SLOT HAVING PARALLEL SIDE WALLS AND PARALLEL END WALLS CONNECTING SAID WALLS TOGETHER AND ONE END WALL BEING STEPPED OUTWARDLY WITH RESPECT TO THE OTHER TO FORM A SHOULDER, A SPRING SOCKET INTERSECTING SAID SLOT AND EXTENDING ALONG ONE OF SAID END WALLS, A ONE PIECE SPADE TERMINAL, HAVING A CONTACT END PORTION, SLIDABLY MOUNTED IN SAID SLOT AND HAVING A SPADE TERMINAL PORTION EXTENDING OUTWARDLY OF SAID CORE AND SOCKET BODY AND HAVING A PORTION OF A WIDTH SUFFICIENT TO FIT WITHIN THE NARROWER PORTION OF SAID SLOT AND HAVING A STEPPED SHOULDER ENGAGEABLE WITH SAID SHOULDER OF SAID SLOT AND LIMITING INWARD MOVEMENT OF SAID TERMINAL ALONG SAID SLOT, SAID CONTACT END PORTION HAVING SLIDABLE ENGAGEMENT WITH OPPOSITE END WALLS OF THE NARROW PORTION OF SAID SLOT AND ALSO HAVING A LEG EXTENDING THEREFROM WITHIN SAID SPRING SOCKET AND SLIDABLY ENGAGEABLE WITH SAID SLOT AT ITS FREE END AND HAVING A SPRING MOUNTED AND ENGAGING SAID CONTACT END PORTION AND EXTENDING WITHIN SAID SOCKET AND SEATED ON THE END OF SAID SOCKET. 